Repair in an apartment or house is necessary to improve the quality of life and the appearance of the home. One of the main surfaces of the room is the floor. In order for it to fit harmoniously into the situation, it must not only have an attractive appearance, but also be even. The following is a discussion of the easiest way to level a wooden floor.
Why alignment is necessary
The old floor has an unattractive appearance, and a decision was made to replace the flooring. Before this, you need to level the wooden floor with your own hands, but is it necessary?
Below are the reasons for holding such an event in a private house:
- aesthetic appearance of the floor covering;
- lack of differences when moving around the room;
- extension of the service life of the clean floor by ensuring normal conditions for its operation.
Soft floor coverings such as linoleum or carpet allow small differences in height, but it is better to prevent. Rigid materials (package, laminate) require the arrangement of an even foundation, since in the presence of irregularities and differences their design scheme is violated. The design does not work properly and cannot withstand the load. Because of this, a partial or complete replacement of the floors may soon be required.
Work Methods
There are several options with which you can level the floor in a private house. Before leveling a wooden floor under a laminate, parquet or linoleum, you need to familiarize yourself with each of them and choose the most suitable one.
- Leveling can be done using plywood.
- It is possible to ensure the evenness of the base under the floor covering by applying putty based on PVA.
- Self-leveling mixtures can be used for these purposes.
- To eliminate strong irregularities, you can use the lags.
If it is difficult to remove the boards of the old flooring in the house, since they are securely nailed to the base, it is better to leave them as is. In this case, leveling the surface under the laminate, parquet or linoleum is carried out using a planer or grinder. The flooring can be laid directly on the existing surface after its leveling.
Work in which the old floor is processed is called scraping.
Performing this step manually with a planer is quite difficult. If possible, use a looping (grinding) machine. When working with this unit, a large amount of wood dust occurs, the penetration of which must be prevented in other residential premises.
Putty leveling
For small irregularities, it is better to use a simple puttying technology. Special putty consists of sawdust and PVA glue. This method will not require impressive cash costs and will provide a fairly even and solid base for laminate, parquet or linoleum. In this case, lags, or other additional elements are not required, so the work is quite easy. It is best to follow the following procedure:
- removal of existing coverage;
- cleaning from dust and dirt;
- surface sanding;
- it is necessary to fasten bending and creaking boards and existing logs using self-tapping screws;
- nailing laths;
- applying a putty layer and leveling it with a rule.
The drying time of the mixture is an average of two days. After gaining strength, you can proceed to further work (lay linoleum or other coating).
Self-leveling mixes
The method consists in using a screed of a special composition. Subject to manufacturing technology, the mixture itself should spread on the floor in an even layer. In this case, all irregularities and pits are filled.
It is rational to apply this method with a height difference of up to 2 cm. With a larger amount of irregularities, it is better to use logs, since the screed will create too much load on the floor. Work is performed in the following order:
- surface cleaning and grinding;
- applying a primer layer (moisture-proof solutions of deep penetration can be used);
- waterproofing with plastic wrap;
- laying reinforcing mesh and its fixation;
- laying the mixture and leveling it.
Leveling and elimination of air is carried out using a special roller with spikes. Drying time depends on the material of the mixture.
One of the indisputable advantages of using this type of floor leveling under linoleum or laminate is the absence of the need for the use of beacons. Also, the pouring process takes a small amount of time.
But the worker conducting the alignment must have experience in construction work or study this issue in-depth, since the proportions must be strictly observed when preparing the solution. In case of violation of the ratio of ingredients, an expensive composition will be unsuitable for styling.
Leveling the floor with plywood
The easiest way to use plywood is considered an option in which lags are not required. Before you level the wooden floor with plywood under linoleum or another coating, you need to familiarize yourself with the sequence of actions:
- Lugs (small wooden planks) are laid along the perimeter of the walls, which will not allow to break the indent from the walls of 2 cm (necessary).
- It is necessary to lay plywood with small gaps, the size of which is 3-8 mm. This indentation is necessary to prevent bending during small movements or thermal expansion.
- Sheets are mounted spaced apart. It is necessary to shift each subsequent relative to the previous half.
- The last step is fixing the sheets with screws. You can pre-prepare holes in plywood to facilitate work.
Also, plywood is laid, installing lags around the room perimeter for supporting sheets. It turns out a tape support for plywood. The preparation of the base for linoleum or laminate is carried out in the following order:
- Layout of plywood sheets without fixing. The layout of the sheets (spacing, gaps) is the same as in the previous case. The step is necessary to verify the conformity of the number and size of plywood sheets to the room area. The laid out sheets need to be numbered.
- Drawing places where the logs will be located.
- Logs are mounted along the walls.
- Installation of transverse jumpers and their fastening with screws. Next, you need to check whether the logs and transverse supports are evenly installed, and fix the entire frame to the base.
- Laying and fixing plywood.
Upon completion, you can lay linoleum or laminate.
In addition, plywood can be stacked on point supports. Such supports are called scaffolds, their thickness is selected depending on the size of the unevenness of the floor. The pads are stacked often enough, because this system cannot provide the same reliability as the previous one. For plywood with a thickness of 14 mm, the step of the support cell is no more than 30 cm, and for sheets of greater thickness, the step size can be up to 45 cm. The order of work is similar to the previous one, the only difference is the geometric pattern of supports for plywood sheets.